HSK 7
幸亏
xìng kuī
幸亏 - Fortunately, luckily
Explanation
幸亏 (xìngkuī) is a mood adverb (a modifying word that expresses the attitude of the sentence) meaning "luckily, fortunately," indicating that thanks to a favorable (usually coincidental) condition, a bad consequence was avoided.
幸亏 + (the lucky circumstance), 不然/否则 (bùrán/fǒuzé, otherwise) + (the hypothetical bad consequence); or 幸亏 + (the lucky circumstance), 才 (cái, only then) + (the good result).
when recounting something that has already happened and expressing relief at having escaped something bad; it always implies an opposite, worrying situation had that luck not occurred.
幸亏 and 多亏 (duōkuī, thanks to) both indicate luck/gratitude, but 多亏 emphasizes the merit of the person/thing that helped (usually followed by a noun referring to a benefactor), while 幸亏 emphasizes fortunate coincidence.
using 幸亏 for something that has not yet happened or is in the future (wrong — it always refers to something already done); omitting the hypothetical bad-consequence clause afterward, leaving the sense of "luck" dangling and lacking weight.
Examples
Luckily you came back early, otherwise I would not have known what to do.
Luckily we took this road, only then did we avoid running into a traffic jam.
Practice
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Learn “幸亏” effectively
The grammar point “幸亏” (幸亏 - Fortunately, luckily) is one of the key structures at HSK 7. To use it fluently, you need to understand the contexts where it's used and practice regularly.
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